The air as part of the total environment
What does the Air Resources Laboratory do for the nation?
The Air Resources Laboratory (ARL) studies processes influencing air quality and climate, and develops relevant models. In this research, the air is seen as a resource at risk, potentially affecting other parts of the total environment (including people). ARL emphasizes interpreting data and developing and applying technologies concerning climate and the transport, dispersion, transformation and removal of atmospheric trace gases and aerosols. ARL research is aligned with the three thematic areas of NOAA Research (weather and air quality, climate, and ecosystems), placing a growing focus on issues related to national security. The specific goal of ARL research is to improve and eventually institutionalize the prediction of air quality, plume dispersion, atmospheric deposition, and related variables. ARL operates with research divisions in Silver Spring, Maryland; Idaho Falls, Idaho; Research Triangle Park, North Carolina; Las Vegas, Nevada; and Oak Ridge, Tennessee.
Recent Accomplishments
- Provided a new generation of air quality models for use in regulatory programs and for exploring control options. Payoffs: The MODELS-3 air quality model was delivered to the air quality community, a result of collaboration with the Environmental Protection Agency.
- Developed and delivered a streamlined air quality model now coupled with the weather forecasting models of the National Centers for Environmental Prediction, to provide the integrated model system for operational air quality forecasting. Payoffs: The ARL system provides a level of air quality forecasting not previously possible.
- Improved and deployed modern, high-tech systems for measuring the rate of exchange of trace substances between the air and the surface. The surface tower Relaxed Eddy Accumulation methodology was developed and used in first-ever studies of the air-surface exchange of trace mercury compounds. ARL-developed systems were fitted to numerous aircraft for research studies of spatial distributions of air-surface exchange. Payoffs: The "Best Available Technology" turbulence probe is now a widely accepted tool used by scientists worldwide in studies of how the air and the surface interact. The instrumentation is now installed on the NOAA P-3 aircraft and the commercially-available Sky Arrow.
- Conducted the first field investigations of the dispersion of atmospheric tracers in New York City and Washington, DC, based on the detection of trace gases emitted from industrial sources. Payoffs: The first probability distributions for use in forecasting street-level exposure levels have been derived.
- Provided dispersion-forecasting systems that are coupled with the weather forecast products of the National Weather Service, making use of local tower data and providing easy access by emergency managers. Payoffs: The Realtime Environmental Applications and Display System (READY) is now a widely used NOAA product, available through ARL (see http://www.arl.noaa.gov/READY).
What's next for ARL?
Scientific challenges in the next five to ten years:
- Develop and demonstrate an integrated atmosphere/biosphere pollution transport and accumulation model suitable for constructing regulations addressing the total environment rather than a specific part of it.
- Provide routine information on the surface boundary condition for the next generation of mesoscale weather forecasting models – the Weather Research and Forecasting model (WRF). This will require expanding the air surface exchange program of ARL, applying the new ARL measurement systems, and more closely coupling with other surface flux programs such as Ameriflux.
- Develop methodologies for predicting the rate of delivery of air pollutants to sensitive ecosystems, and the exposure regimes affecting people where they live and work.
- Complete an assessment of atmospheric mercury and other toxic trace substances, with special attention to the Gulf of Mexico and other sensitive ecosystems.
- Improve and implement a nation-wide forecasting system for smoke and haze.
Research Partnerships
ARL works in partnership with many universities and university consortia. Principal among these are the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research, Oak Ridge Associated Universities, and the NOAA Cooperative/Joint Institutes listed below. ARL also holds partnerships with other Federal agencies, including the EPA and the Departments of Energy, Homeland Security, and Defense.
- The Cooperative Institute for Atmospheric Sciences and Terrestrial Applications (CIASTA) located in Las Vegas and Reno, Nevada, is a NOAA cooperative institute led by the Desert Research Institute (DRI) of the University and Community College System of Nevada.
- The Cooperative Institute for Research in the Atmosphere (CIRA) located in Fort Collins, CO, is a cooperative institute between NOAA and Colorado State University.
- The Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences (CIRES) located in Boulder, CO, is a cooperative institute between NOAA and the University of Colorado at Boulder.
Budget and Staff
The fiscal year 2006 enacted budget for the ARL budget
lines totaled $5.0M. The fiscal year 2007 President's budget request
for ARL is $5.1M. ARL has 43 permanent Federal employees.